AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights Department records [L1989-17]

To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

Profile Description

Collection Summary

Georgia State University,
University Library, Special Collections and Archives
Department

Creator:

AFL-CIO. Civil Rights Dept.

Title:

AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights
Department records

Dates:

1962-1988

Quantity:

31.3 linear
feet

Abstract:

The records of the AFL-CIO Southern Area
Civil Rights Department, spanning 1962 to 1988, include correspondence,
minutes, reports, writings, financial records, printed materials, clippings,
membership cards, photographs, and artifacts that document the activities of
the office's director, E.T. "Al" Kehrer, in facilitating the employment of
minorities and women in the region.

Identification:

L1989-17

Language

English.

Organization of the Records

Part Five includes eight series, each of which has a scope and content
note.

Series I, AFL-CIO Materials, 1963 - 1986

Series II, Name Files, 1962 - 1988

Series III, Organizations, 1966 - 1988

Series IV, Affirmative Action Files, 1967 - 1987

Series V, Complaints and Grievances, 1965 - 1988

Series VI, Political Materials, 1964 - 1985

Series VII, Union Files, 1966 - 1987

Series VIII, Subject Files, 1965 - 1986

Addendum, Printed Material (arranged as additions to series
I-VIII)

Scope and Content of the Records

The records of the AFL-CIO Southern Area Civil Rights Department,
spanning 1964 to 1988, include correspondence, minutes, reports, writings,
financial records, printed materials, clippings, membership cards, photographs,
and artifacts that document the activities of the office's director, E.T. "Al"
Kehrer, in facilitating the employment of minorities and women in the region.
The records show that some of Kehrer's work related directly to job training,
affirmative action, and equal opportunity complaints. Other materials document
that many of his activities contributed to increasing cooperation among civil
rights groups, unions, and government agencies. Kehrer also participated in a
wide range of community, labor, and political organizations.

In addition to the manuscript materials contained in Series 1-8, a
large amount of printed material is included in the collection. Six cubic feet
of printed matter was reviewed and retained with the collection (listed in the
addendum).

History of the AFL-CIO Department of Civil Rights, Southern
Region

Shortly after the merger in 1955, the AFL-CIO set up a Department of
Civil Rights under the direction of Boris Shishkin. From 1965 to 1969 Don
Slaiman headed the department followed by William E. Pollard in 1970. The
AFL-CIO also had a standing committee on civil rights. This committee was
headed successively by Charles S. Zimmerman (1957-1961), William Schnitzler
(1961-1967), and Fred O'Neal (1969-[1985]). The committee membership included
representatives from AFL-CIO unions. Don Slaiman, E.T. Kehrer, William E.
Pollard, Robert McGlotten, and Doris Gibson Hardesty provided staff services to
the committee.

During the early years of the AFL-CIO, the Civil Rights Department and
the Civil Rights Committee did relatively little toward eliminating practices
of exclusion in union policies. The national organization's position changed
after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. On January 1, 1965, the Southern
Area Civil Rights Department was established in response to a need for a staff
specialist in civil rights in the region. Later that year the southern office
opened in Atlanta under the direction of E.T. "Al" Kehrer. The states served by
this office included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and
Virginia.

Elmer T. Kehrer was born on a farm near Brighton, Michigan, in 1921.
He grew up in Detroit during an active period of union organization in the auto
industry. During World War II he served in the Maritime Service as a
Purser-Pharmacist on an oil tanker in the Pacific war zone. In 1947 he received
his A.B. degree from Olivet College in Michigan and his M.A. in economics from
Yale University in 1948. He started with the unions in 1936 when he became a
student organizer for the United Auto Workers. In 1944 he did field work in Los
Angeles for the Ship's Clerk Association, and in 1948 he became a field
representative for the Workers Education Bureau of the AFL specializing in
setting up human relations programs. In 1950 he was instrumental in founding
and serving as director of the ILGWU's Officers Training Institute, the first
year-round labor educational program to develop full-time union officials. In
1953 Kehrer accepted the position of ILGWU's Southeastern Regional Director in
Atlanta. He remained in that position until he became the Southern Director for
the AFL-CIO's Civil Rights Department in 1965.

Kehrer's work in the Civil Rights Department focused mainly on
facilitating the addition of minority and women workers to work forces
represented by unions. In addition to advocating the employment of minorities,
this effort also involved encouraging unions, government agencies, and
employers to provide job training and to develop and follow affirmative action
guidelines. He paid particular attention to increasing black participation in
the building trades. Evidence of this type of activity can be found in Kehrer's
work with major federal construction projects such as the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway and the Kings Bay Submarine Base.

Kehrer's responsibilities also called for forging coalitions among
agencies, civil rights groups and labor organizations. He worked with the
NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Committee (SCLC), the Southern Regional
Council and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violent Social Change.
Among other things, he assisted in the development and processing of Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints. Kehrer served as the Labor
Coordinator for the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,
and in 1985 repeated that role for the 20th anniversary march. In 1966 Kehrer
helped to form and served as an officer of the Georgia Democratic Party Forum
and the Ellis Arnall Write-In Campaign, efforts aimed at electing a slate of
loyalist national Democrats as delegates to the 1968 Democratic National
Convention and electing former Governor Ellis Arnall as governor of Georgia. In
1970 Kehrer served as the chairman of the first planning committee for the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration.

In addition to very heavy official duties, Kehrer was also active in
his community, in politics, and in the Presbyterian Church. He served in
leadership capacities in the following organizations: Southern Regional
Council, Workers Defense League, National Joint Council on Economic Education,
Georgia Manpower Area Planning Council, Tennessee-Tombigbee Affirmative Action
Coordinating Committee, Southern Coalition for Full Employment, Atlanta Area
Justice for J.P. Stevens Workers, Georgia Citizens for the Arts, Organized
Labor-Workmen's Circle Labor Awards Committee, Georgia Women's Diversion
Committee, East Coast Farmworkers Support Network, Resurgens Atlanta, and the
Georgia Democratic Party. He also worked with other organizations including:
Presbyterian Consultation on World Hunger and Development, Presbyterian Task
Force on U.S. System of Justice, Industrial Relations Research Association,
Workmen's Circle, Coalition for a Democratic Majority, League for Industrial
Democracy, NAACP, Atlanta Urban League, Georgia Coalition on Hunger,
Southeastern Advisory Council on the American Red Cross, and the Georgia
Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the
Georgia State University Library online catalog (GIL). Researchers desiring
materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog
using these headings.

Kehrer, E. T.,
1921-

AFL-CIO.

Affirmative action programs
-- Southern States.

Discrimination in
employment -- United States.

Labor unions -- Southern
States.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any
publication, including on the Worldwide Web, any material from this collection,
the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical
property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from
this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright
holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must
contain the complete citation to the original. All requests subject to
limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Separated Material

Separated material: A few union
constitutions, and many union contracts were added to the Contracts and
Constitutions Collections in the archives. Included were quite a number of
contracts for the Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and associated locals.
Approximately two cubic feet of printed documents were added to the Pamphlet
Collection, and a large number of labor periodicals were placed in the
Periodicals Collections. A few artifacts and eight audio tapes are available.
One hundred fifty-one photographs belong to the collection including a number
documenting the Labor Awards Bankquet. Other events covered include the
twentieth anniversary Selma-Montgomery March, the 1969 Atlanta Daily World strike, and the Tenn-Tom Job Train.

See List of Separated Material following Detailed Description of the
Collection.

Copyright to this finding aid is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this finding aid available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright to this finding aid is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this finding aid available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/